Governance of an institution of
higher education is most effective when there is cooperation among the governing
board, administrators, faculty, students, and staff. When shared interests of
the participants converge, collegial relations make the university the best
place to teach, to do research, and to serve the people of the state. Shared
governance is what makes a good university great.

Central to a system of shared
governance is the recognition by all participants, including the governing board
and the administration, that “the faculty is the university.”

The faculty of the university, as defined in the University of
Illinois Statutes, is responsible for the
teaching, research, and scholarly activities of the university. The faculty,
therefore, has “inherent interests and rights in academic policy and
governance.” The faculty governs the administration
of each college or academic unit, through its bylaws. Those bylaws, established
and amended by the faculty of that unit, determine the administrative
organization and procedure of the unit, “including the composition and tenure of
executive or advisory committees.”

The faculty shares in the
governance of the university in all matters related to educational policy,
broadly defined, because the faculty is in the best position to set educational
policy. The AAUP, in its 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and
Universities, recognizes the authority of the governing board and the
administration. Nevertheless, it points out that faculty, together with the
administration, staff, and students, have important roles to

establish policy and procedures for admission, content of courses
and curricula, requirements for degrees and certificates, grades and grading,
the academic calendar, and other matters pertaining to education;
advise on changes in academic organization, such as the
termination, separation, transfer, merger, change in status (e.g., department to
school), or renaming of academic units;
establish policy and procedures for promotion and tenure,
dismissal, sabbatical leaves, and support of research;
search for, and recommend appointments or nonreappointments of,
faculty and administrators, including the dean, the chancellor, and the
president;
develop and advise on budgets and advise on allocation of
resources for the department, the college, the campus, and the university;
establish policy and procedures to set rates for tuition and fees;
set long-term goals and develop strategic plans for the
department, the college, the campus, and the university; and
develop a master plan for buildings and other physical resources.

The faculty must remember,
however, that it has a collegial, not adversarial, relationship with the
administration. Faculty and administration have a shared goal, but not all
advice that the faculty gives the administration is taken. It would be
foolhardy, however, for the administration to ignore completely the advice of
the faculty. The administration must remember that to accomplish its goals, it
must get the buy-in of the faculty. The faculty must have a specified role in
the decision-making process so that they have an investment in the decision.

To understand the role faculty
plays in sharing governance, however, one must understand how the university is
governed.

Board of Trustees and the University Administration

The Legislature of the State of
Illinois created the University of Illinois by the University of Illinois Act
(110 ILCS 305) and established the Board of Trustees by the University of
Illinois Trustees Act (110 ILCS 310). The Board of Trustees is responsible to
the people of Illinois.

The Board of Trustees has final authority over the university and exercises
jurisdiction in all matters, except those matters it has delegated to the
president or other officers of the university. The Board, in cooperation with
the faculty, established a set of
Statutesthat provide a framework for governance of the university. Campus
senates of the university or the Board may propose amendments to the
Statutes,
but the Board cannot amend the Statutes without consulting the senates.
Notice that the requirement is for consultation, not approval of the senates.[1]

In addition to the
Statutes,
the Board of Trustees adopted a set of regulations,
The General Rules
Concerning University Organization and Procedure, which deals
with the administrative organization of the university. The Board may change
The
General Rules
upon recommendation of the president and after consultation with the University
Senates Conference. Notice again that the requirement is for consultation, not
approval of Senates Conference.

The Board formulates university
policies, but the administration executes those policies. In the administration
of the university, the president is the chief executive officer. Other
university officers include three vice presidents (for academic
affairs, for administration, and for technology and economic
development) and three chancellors (for UIUC, for UIC, and for UIS).

The Board of Trustees is composed
of thirteen members:nine
appointed by the Governor; three students, one elected from each campus for a
one-year term; and the Governor, ex officio. One student trustee,
selected by the Governor, has an official vote.

Several standing committees help
do the work of the Board. Of special interest to faculty is the Academic Affairs
Committee. Through this committee, the Board communicates with campus senates
and the University Senates Conference to ensure ongoing interaction with faculty
governance groups.[2]
The chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, as well as the president, convey to
the Board matters of interest to the faculty.

UIUC Campus Administration

The chancellor is the chief
executive officer for the campus. The provost and vice chancellor for academic
affairs is the chief academic and budget officer for the campus. There are three
other vice chancellors: for research, for student affairs, and for public
engagement and institutional relations.

When a new vice chancellor is
appointed, the chancellor must seek advice of the senate’s executive committee.
Notice once again that the requirement is for the chancellor to seek advice, not
approval of the executive committee.

It is a strong tradition at UIUC
that the faculty is intimately involved as members of search committees in the
selection of university, campus, and college officers, namely the president, the
chancellor, the provost, and deans and department heads or chairs.

UIUC Senate

According to Statutes, “As
the responsible body in teaching, research, and scholarly activities of the
University, the faculty has inherent interests and rights in academic policy and
governance.”

Senates derive their authority
from the Statutes, which allow each senate to exercise legislative
functions in matters of educational policy that affect the University as a whole
or only its own campus. For each campus, the senate determines matters of
educational policy, including requirements for admission, requirements for
degrees and certificates, the academic calendar, and educational policy on
student affairs.

The UIUC senate comprises about
200 faculty and about 50 students and is the legislative body of the campus. At
our campus, the chancellor presides over meetings of the senate.

The senate functions mostly
through its committees: its ad hoc committees, its standing committees, and its
Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is composed of 16 members, most
elected by the senate:

the chair and vice-chair;
three students elected, including at least one undergraduate and
at least one graduate or professional student;
chairs of five prescribed standing committees: Committee on
Committees, Educational Policy, General University Policy, Information
Technology, and University Statutes and Senate Procedures;
three chairs elected each year from the remaining standing
committees: Academic Freedom and Tenure, Admissions, Budget, Campus Operations,
Conference on Conduct Governance Equal Opportunity, Faculty Benefits, Honorary
Degrees, Library, Public Engagement, Student Discipline, and University Student
Life; and
senate representatives to the University Senates Conference, the
Faculty Advisory Council to the Board of Higher Education, and the Council of
Academic Professionals.

Among many important duties of
the Executive Committee, in addition to coordinating the activities of the
senate, two are of special interest to faculty: one is to provide advice to the
president on the annual reappointment of the chancellor and the other is to
provide advice to the chancellor on the appointment or annual reappointment of
vice chancellors.

Among many important committees
of the senate, one committee deserves special attention. The General University
Policy Committee, as specified in the senate bylaws, studies and reports its
recommendations to the senate on issues concerning general university policy in
broad terms, including issues concerning not only this campus but also other
campuses and the university as well.[3]

University Senates Conference

Statutes provide for a
legislative body of the university, which is
the University Senates Conference. The Senates Conference, which comprises 20
members elected by the three campus senates, reviews matters acted upon by each
senate and proposes its own recommendations. The Conference assists senates to
communicate with one another, with university and campus administrative
officials, and with the Board of Trustees (through the president). The
Conference helps to maintain harmonious relations and promotes agreement or
consistency among the three senates.

In addition to its other duties,
the Conference advises the Board of Trustees, the president of the university,
other administrative officials, and campus senates on matters of concern to the
university.[4]

Faculty Advisory CommitteeThe administration receives advice from various
sources. The faculty usually advises the administration through standing and ad
hoc committees and through representation in the senate. In addition, the
faculty at each campus elects a Faculty Advisory Committee, which establishes
its own eligibility for membership and its own rules of procedure, as provided
for in the Statutes.This committee is a channel for communication between
the faculty and the administration by providing a voice for suggestions for the
good of the university on matters of interest and concern to the faculty.
Moreover, it provides added recourse for the consideration of grievances.The president, the chancellor, or any member of the
academic staff may request the committee, which also may act on its own
initiative, to investigate or hold consultations on any matter it considers to
be in the best interest of the university, for example, the possibility of
dismissal of a tenured member of the faculty.

Senate Representatives to Other Bodies

In addition to faculty representation on senate
committees, the senate has faculty representatives to several governing and
advisory bodies. These bodies include the Athletic Board, the State Universities
Retirement System Members Advisory Committee, the Faculty Advisory Council to
the Board of Higher Education, the Military Education Council, and the Research
Policy Committee.

Council of Academic Professionals

Shared governance of the
university is not an endeavor solely of the faculty; it includes academic
professionals as well. Academic professionals are staff members whose positions
involve specialized administrative, professional, or technical skills. Academic
professionals serve as voting members on various senate committees. The UIUC
Council of Academic Professionals represents, for example, academic counselors,
information technologists, and laboratory managers.

Illinois Student Senate

The Illinois Student Senate is
the official voice of students at the university. The student senate focuses on
improving the campus environment for students, by promoting health, safety, and
participation on campus. The student senate represents students in the campus
senate and works to represent students to the campus administration.

Students contribute greatly to
shared governance. In fact, students are represented on every senate standing
committee, except Faculty Benefits and University Senates Conference.

Local Opportunities for Shared Governance

In addition to opportunities for faculty to
share in the governance of the university at the levels of the campus and
university, there are opportunities even closer to their disciplines, namely at
the levels of the college and department.

College

The college comprises departments and other units
with common educational interests and is governed internally by its faculty,
under bylaws established by the faculty. It is governance of the faculty, by the
faculty, and for the faculty, to rephrase Abraham Lincoln.

The college
has jurisdiction in all educational matters falling within the scope of its
programs, including the determination of its curricula. The dean is the chief
executive officer of the college, and is the agent of the faculty for the
execution of educational policy.

Among other duties, the dean prepares the budget of
the college together with the executive committee. The executive committee,
elected by the college faculty, is the primary advisory committee to the dean,
and advises on formulation and execution of college policies.

The dean is
appointed annually by the Board of Trustees on recommendation by the chancellor
and the president after advice of the college’s executive committee. The faculty
evaluates the performance of the dean at least once every five years.

Department

The department is the primary unit of education and
administration in the university. The department has full autonomy over its
educational policy, consistent with college and university educational policy. A
department may be organized either with a chair or with a head, depending on a
vote of the faculty and recommendation to the Board of Trustees by the dean, the
chancellor, and the president.

Department Organized with a Chair

If the department is organized with a chair, then the
department has an elected executive committee, which recommends academic
appointments in the department.The chair and executive committee are responsible for
organization of work of the department, for preparation of the budget and
expenditure of funds, and for other matters that may be delegated to them by
faculty of the department.The chair is responsible for formulation and
execution of departmental policies. The chair is appointed annually by
the Board of Trustees on recommendation by the chancellor and the president
after consulting the dean and departmental executive
committee. The entire departmental faculty, among others, evaluates the
performance of the chair at least once every five years.

Department Organized with a Head

If the department is organized with a head, then the
department has an elected advisory committee. The head consults with the
advisory committee and recommends academic appointments in the department.The head consults with the advisory committee in
regard to departmental policy and in preparing the departmental budget. The
advisory committee functions to provide for orderly voicing of suggestions for
the good of the department, to recommend procedures and committees that
encourage faculty participation in formulating policy, and to perform other
tasks that may be assigned to it.The head directs and organizes the work of the
department. The head is responsible for formulation and execution of
departmental policies, and for distribution and expenditure of funds. The head
is appointed by the Board of Trustees on recommendation by the chancellor
and the president after consulting the dean and
entire departmental faculty. The entire departmental faculty, among others,
evaluates the performance of the head at least once every five years.

Change of Departmental Organization

The faculty of the department can request that the
form of the organization of the department be changed. If a change of
organization is voted, the chancellor transmits the request to the president for
recommendation to the Board of Trustees.Summary

The authority and tradition for faculty
participation in shared governance at UIUC are grounded in the Statutes.
The faculty has a fundamental responsibility, therefore, to participate in
governance of the university. As in all responsibilities of good citizenship, it
is up to each faculty member to be a good academic citizen and to maintain high
professional standards that foster academic excellence.

Resources:

AAUP, 1966. Statement on
government of colleges and universities. [www.aaup. org/statements/Redbook/Govern.htm]

Illinois Compiled Statutes:
University of Illinois Act (110ILCS305) and University of Illinois Trustees
Act (110ILCS310). [www.ilga.gov]

University of Illinois, 2002.
Statutes. [www.uillinois.edu/trustees/statutes.asp]

University of Illinois, 2003.
Bylaws of the Board of Trustees [www.uillinois.edu /trustees/bylaws.asp]

University of Illinois, 2004. The
General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure. [www.
uillinois.edu/trustees/rules.asp]

University of Illinois, 2005. The
Board of Trustees. [www.uillinois.edu/trustees/ index.asp]

[1]
Two recently proposed amendments to the Statutes involve academic
professionals. One provides optional multi-year contracts, and related
dismissal procedures, for certain non-tenure-track academic staff not
currently eligible for contracts longer than one year.Another clarifies employment policies of academic professionals who
work at the level of University Administration, so the policies will be
those of the campus at which their principal office is located.
[2]
In 2005, the chair of the Board proposed a process by which campus senates
(through their observers to meetings of the Board) and Senates Conference
(through its Executive Committee) meet with the chair and vice-chair of the
Academic Affairs Committee to discuss items on the Board’s agenda and other
items that are of mutual interest to the faculty and the Board.
[3]
Recent issues for General University Policy Committee include the
possibility of multi-year contracts for non-tenure-track academic staff, a
review of university administrative structure, and a procedure to monitor
the Campus Master Plan.

[4]
Recent issues for Senates Conference include faculty representation to the
Board of Trustees, extension of benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex
domestic partners, and Chief Illiniwek.